A feast of haggis

Writing this blog used to bring me so much joy, I don't really know why I stopped. Well, perhaps I realised that it was 2026 and no one really blogs anymore, so you don't get that wonderful sense of community that used to exist. I am far too old, and far too protective of my privacy to want to do anything on TikTok or Insta (I use the latter to post pictures of cats and food but that's about it). But WIEIAD posts seem to be very popular over there so it's a bit of a shame that the concept of a blog has kind of gone out of fashion - I'd far rather read a post than watch a video. Hey, I'm old!

Anyway. I am going to try and post more regularly, just as something for me. Because I do still love talking about food, although not so much about weight loss anymore. Maybe I'll talk about that more another time.

We're not long back from a ten day trip around Scotland which included visiting some new places as we did a sort-of version of the North Coast 500 (basically driving around the far North Coast which is STUNNING) but then we came back inland and visited a couple of favourite places - a stop off in Inveraray and then a couple of nights in Glasgow.

Reader, I ate a lot of haggis. And I discovered a new favourite thing. Behold, the haggis rarebit! I had this in two different places and this one, in a random café in  a small town called Lochgilphead was just wonderful. As rich as it sounds.

I also dragged D to a pub in Glasgow because I really, really wanted to have a haggis, neeps and tatties pie. Which came with beans. Haggis and beans is superlative.

Of course, because it is us, we managed a couple of...well, higher end for want of a better phrase (although I detest food snobbery and don't necessarily think if something is more expensive it is automatically more delicious). At Inver, on the shores of Loch Fyne, we had a fermented turnip broth which, I promise you was one of the loveliest things I think that I have ever eaten. It's quite hard to explain just how wonderful it was. We complained to the waiter that the portion was too small. 

Oh, and saw dolphins. Non-food related, but magical.

Recipe corner: Duck breast with tomato harissa sauce

Whenever D goes away for the night, you can almost guarantee that my supper will consist of one of two things. Either pizza or filled pasta (tossed in butter, cheese and black pepper of course). Cooking for one person, even when that person is myself, has never been of particular interest to me which is daft really. But I am a bear of very simple brain and all I want, when I am on my own, is something delicious, easy and comforting. Maybe one day I will branch out but...maybe not.

Whenever I go away for the night, as I did recently, D comes into his own. A delicious meal, usually involving a large slab of protein, a bottle of fine wine - the man knows how to party solo. His latest creation was this very delicious looking duck dish that he has promised faithfully to cook for me soon.

He is rather obsessed, and with good reason, with his Meater probe as it guarantees perfectly cooked meat. If you don't have one then you will need to just go with testing and cook's instinct!

Ingredients

Handful of cherry tomatoes - halved

Generous splash of olive oil

Garlic cloves - finely sliced

Shallot - finely sliced

Tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp harissa paste

Duck breast

2 tsp harissa

To serve (optional) - frites, mayonnaise cut through with hot sauce

Serves 1

To cook the duck - first, preheat your oven to 180. Insert the probe and then place skin side down in a cold pan. Set to a medium heat (this will be a 5 or 6 on our induction hob). Cook for 10 minutes to allow the fat to start to render. As it sits in the pan, paint the flesh side with harissa paste. After 10 minutes, transfer to the oven and cook until it is blushingly pink (the timings will very much depend on your duck breast, and my notes from D just say - "Remove when the probe tells you to.") Brush the skin with harissa and set aside to rest.

For the sauce - heat the olive oil and then add the shallot and garlic, with a generous amount of seasoning, and allow to soften for a few minutes. Stir through the harissa paste, then add the tomatoes along with the cumin seeds. Use the back of a spoon to gently crush the tomatoes. Reduce, over a medium heat until the sauce has reached its desired consistency - at least ten minutes. Do a final seasoning check - you may need a touch more salt and pepper and even a pinch of sugar if the tomatoes aren't quite sweet enough.

Serve the duck atop the sauce - with optional fries and spicy mayonnaise on the side.